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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24234427">Assembled We Are Strong</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drogna/pseuds/Drogna'>Drogna</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Avengers (Marvel Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>BAMF Clint Barton, Clint Barton Needs a Hug, Friendship, Gen, Hurt Clint Barton, Mind Control Aftermath &amp; Recovery, Post-Avengers (2012), Team as Family</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 19:15:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,392</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24234427</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drogna/pseuds/Drogna</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Avengers save the world, but Tony Stark finds out that the aftermath of the battle is hard on everyone, and one of their number in particular. He sets out to get them all to move into Stark Tower, and they learn some things about themselves. In the process they reveal a new mystery about Clint's time under Loki's control. Teamfic with lots of Hawkeye. Written post first Avengers movie.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Assembled We Are Strong</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is an old fic of mine that I wrote many years ago after the first Avengers movie came out, and is posted elsewhere. Obviously a lot has happened in the MCU that I didn't know about when writing this, in particular there's no Barton family in this fic. I'm re-posting it here as perhaps people might like to read it while we're all stuck at home. Home you're all keeping safe.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The gigantic A that was all that was left of the word “Stark” on Stark Tower was what started the whole thing. Tony Stark owned the tower, it was his and he liked his name to be on things that belonged to him. So when it came to repairs, he’d naturally included replacing the other letters as part of the rebuild. The battle-to-end-all-battles had been particularly hard on his New York headquarters. Replacing the other letters wasn’t a priority, and it would probably be a while before it even got done, with all the other more structural repairs to take care of first. However as he came to put his signature on the paperwork for the letters to be replaced, something stopped him. Something made him decide that the A was all he needed, so he deleted the work order, not quite sure why he was doing it. That got him thinking.</p><p>***</p><p>Bruce Banner loved the R and D levels of Stark Tower as much as he’d been told he would, and he loved the fact that Tony had given him his own lab. Tony was even putting him up in the Tower; for the moment it was in the guest bedroom of the penthouse, but Tony had promised him his own quarters in the rebuild. Bruce hadn’t left the Tower since the Avengers had seen Loki and Thor off and he was fine with that.</p><p>Bruce was sat in his lab when JARVIS spoke and he nearly dropped the beaker he was holding. Getting used to Tony’s AI was taking a while.<br/>
<br/>
“Doctor Banner, Ms Potts wishes to invite you to join her and Mr Stark for dinner tonight. They are planning to eat at 7pm.”</p><p>“Thank you JARVIS, tell Pepper that I’d love to join them. I’ll finish up here and be there on the dot.”<br/>
<br/>
It wasn’t unusual to get such an invitation. Normally Bruce kept his own hours and ate when a natural break came in his work. He didn’t want to intrude on Tony’s day to day life too much, the billionaire had already helped him enough and probably didn’t want to spend all his time socialising with him. He did appreciate the gesture from Pepper to make sure that he was included though.</p><p>Bruce wound up the experiment that he’d been conducting and wandered up from the floor with his lab on, via the elevator, and into the penthouse’s living room. He found Pepper and Tony sat on one of the luxurious sofas that graced the room, sipping a pre-dinner drink whilst looking at a 3D computer model of the tower that JARVIS had generated.</p><p>“Bruce! Come and join us,” said Pepper, already getting up to meet him with a glass in one hand and a bottle of champagne in the other.</p><p>“Yes, you can come and give us your opinion of the rebuild designs that I’ve just perfected,” Tony added in his usual self-satisfied tone.</p><p>Pepper rolled her eyes as she poured Bruce a drink and handed him the full glass.<br/>
<br/>
“Sorry, Bruce, you’re probably tired after a hard day in the lab and don’t want to hear about what Tony’s working on.”</p><p>Bruce gave her an understanding smile. “It’s okay. I could use the distraction. So what makes this design so much better than the last one?”</p><p>Tony’s eyes were glued to the image of the new tower. “Come and see for yourself. First of all, you’ve got your own apartment, right underneath this one, but I didn’t stop there. I know Rogers is still living in the past, and Thor needs a place to stay when he’s slumming it on Earth, so I thought they’d need somewhere to crash when they’re in New York too. Then I decided that I couldn’t leave out our two black-clad friends, so I’ve got apartments for them too. Basically I’m renaming the place. I mean the media have almost done it for me already. They keep referring to it as Avengers Tower so I guess we might as well go with it.”</p><p>He turned around the model so that Bruce could see it too. The new letters at the top of the tower said “Avengers” where once they had proclaimed “Stark” in equally huge letters.</p><p>“Wow,” said Bruce, unable to form a coherent thought at that moment just because of the sheer audacity of Tony’s new naming scheme.</p><p>“Yeah, I know. It’s so simple and yet so totally awesome. Perfect for me really.”</p><p>“Tony,” said Pepper in warning tones.</p><p>Tony ignored her. “And not only will everyone have their own apartments but I’m going to build training rooms, a shooting range for Red and Bird-brain, an infirmary for getting patched up after saving the world, and new state-of-the-art labs for us.”</p><p>“Don’t we have those already?” asked Bruce tentatively.</p><p>“Please,” said Tony. “Our labs are so last year and I miss my cars.”</p><p>“Cars?” said Bruce with bafflement. “In a sky scraper.”</p><p>“Sometimes I find it’s better to just not ask,” said Pepper, sitting down with her own glass of champagne.</p><p>Bruce nodded. “So, it’s sort of a community living thing? When are the others moving in?”</p><p>Stark’s face quirked into a strange smile. “Well, I still need to send out the invites, and to be honest I’m not certain that they’re going to be that enthusiastic.”</p><p>Bruce raised his eyebrows, in mock surprise.</p><p>Stark continued. “Actually I thought maybe you could help me out there. The two of us would be a great team.”</p><p>“Why exactly do we want everyone to move in to the same building? I’m not sure we actually get on well enough for that kind of close proximity living.”</p><p>The look on Tony’s face was suddenly much more serious.  “Because, Bruce, this is what the SHIELD files say about our fellow Avengers.” Tony gestured at the lower part of the screen and then threw the information into the room for Bruce to read as holograms. Bruce frowned at the invasion of privacy, but wasn’t surprised that Tony didn’t care. “I’d suggest that you just read Barton’s entry as a good enough reason to do something, but our star spangled friend is almost looking as bad, and Romanoff is doing a good job of hiding her issues but she’s not as good as she thinks. I’d be willing to bet the Malibu house that Thor isn’t having much fun on his own in Asgard either, after his own brother tried to kill him.”</p><p>Bruce had the information in front of him so he read as he spoke.</p><p>“Setting aside your complete disregard for our team mates’ privacy for the moment, which admittedly I’m now compounding, it’s not surprising that we’re having a few issues. We spent an afternoon being shot at by an invading alien army. That doesn’t mean that us moving in together is a great plan either,” said Bruce.</p><p>“No, but it has to be better than watching the people that saved New York, and lived to tell the tale, give up on life one by one, because I can tell you that’s what is happening here. Hell, I’ll hire a fleet of damn shrinks if it’s going to mean Barton never has another sleepless night because he keeps waking up screaming.” Tony had put down his glass on the table, indicating part of Barton’s SHIELD psychiatric evaluation, and was looking seriously at Bruce now. “You all stood beside me and had my back that day. The least I can do is offer everyone a place to stay when they’re in New York.”</p><p>Pepper interjected, “Tony thinks that you are the only people who can really understand what it was like, so getting everyone together is the best way to deal with, well, the aftermath of saving the world.”</p><p>Bruce gave a shrug. “It’s an interesting approach, and I suppose you have a point. I know we’ve both got our own stuff going on, so we might benefit from it too.”</p><p>“Hey, I’m fine,” said Tony. “I’m used to saving the world. It’s the rest of you misfits that I’m worried about.”</p><p>The glance that Pepper sent Tony told Bruce that this was probably an out and out lie, but he wasn’t going to call the billionaire on it. He’d nearly died diverting a nuclear weapon into a portal of unknown destination, so it seemed extremely unlikely that would have had no impact on him at all. However, setting that aside, maybe Tony did, in his own strange way, have something.</p><p>“So are you in?” asked Tony.</p><p>“Sure, why not. It would be nice to have some more company,” said Bruce, and realised almost immediately that he’d allowed one of his own personal issues air. He’d been lonely in India, and coming to Stark Tower had allowed him to believe that perhaps he didn’t have to be any longer.</p><p>Tony smiled, and Bruce hoped that he wasn’t going to regret this.</p><p>***</p><p>Steve Rogers was Tony’s first target. From what Tony had read, Steve had had some difficulty adapting to the modern world after his defrosting from the ice. Tony liked to make fun of his lack of ability to understand computers and other bits of technology but really he did get some of the culture shock that the super soldier was experiencing, although in reverse. There was nothing like being locked in a cave to make you appreciate the modern world. He had been so damn glad to get back to civilisation after his time in captivity, but of course the Captain could never go home.</p><p>Apparently even though Captain America had found a cause with the Avengers, Steve Rogers was still struggling with being a man out of time. He was living in an apartment in New York as close as he could get to his old neighbourhood, and he had as little technology as he could get away with. The guy didn’t even own a television and the only time he ever left his apartment was to buy supplies. This man was a hero and he was living like a hermit.</p><p>Tony was pretty much certain that if he could convince Steve to come to the Tower then the rest would be easy, a theory which of course was then proven wrong on multiple occasions. But at the moment Tony knocked on Steve’s apartment door, he still believed that this would be the toughest task of them all because he was pretty sure the Captain didn’t like him. Whilst it wasn’t that unusual for people to dislike him, he tended to rub people up the wrong way, he hoped that saving the world together might help his cause. However Iron Man did things very differently to Captain America, and he couldn’t see them ever being best buddies.</p><p>Steve took a while to open the door. When he did, the look of shock on his face was so comic book that Tony wished that he’d had a camera to take a picture with. Steve was dressed in a plain white t-shirt and fawn pants, with bare feet. Behind Steve, Tony could see a pristine apartment, devoid of any sort of personal items, but furnished with what he would consider to be “retro” furniture. Of course to Steve this was probably just what he’d been used to before being frozen in the ice for seventy years.</p><p>“Stark,” said Steve, when he’d schooled his expression into a more natural one. “What are you doing here? Fury didn’t call…”</p><p>“Fury didn’t send me, and don’t worry, Chicken Little, the sky isn’t falling. At least I don’t think it is and probably not today. The Avengers are not required. I just thought I’d stop by, see how you’re doing in your new place,” said Stark, looking up and down the dingy hall as he said this, with clear dissatisfaction. “SHIELD did a great job on the accommodation I see.”</p><p>Steve stuck his head out the door and checked both ways, before he pulled Tony into his apartment and shut the door behind him.</p><p>“This is supposed to be a top-secret location. No one is supposed to know that Captain America lives here and you coming in here shouting about SHIELD and the Avengers isn’t really going to help that. How did you find me anyway?”</p><p>“I hacked SHIELD,” said Tony, nonchalantly.</p><p>He began to wander around Steve’s room picking up the few items that lay around and inspecting them whilst eyeing up the 40s colour scheme and furniture. The couch was a particularly horrible sort of sludge green colour, and a pile of aging newspapers sat on the coffee table.</p><p>“Did you get this stuff out of a museum? This is no way to live, Rogers, no way at all. Now if you were to come down to Stark Tower…” He stopped himself and smiled, with a glance back to Steve. “Sorry Avengers Tower, I’m renaming it. Anyway, if you were to visit once in a while instead of hiding out here like some sort of social leper, then I’d happily offer you the pick of the new rooms that I’m constructing.”</p><p>“What are you talking about, Tony?” Steve padded over to the couch with an exasperated sigh, and sat down as he watched Tony continue to wander about his living room.</p><p>“I thought that serum was supposed to turn you into a super soldier. That’s what Dad used to tell me anyway, when he was going on and on about what a great guy you were. I guess it didn’t include making you any smarter. I’m offering you some place to live that isn’t stuck in the past.”</p><p>“Howard said that about me? He really said that I was a great guy?” Steve asked seemingly missing the main point of Tony’s small speech entirely.</p><p>“Yes, on numerous occasions.” Tony’s wandering came to a halt along with his good mood. Sometimes he wished that he had a better handle on what actually came out of his mouth. He really hadn’t wanted his father to come up in this discussion, but somehow when Captain America was around, he always did. Tony moved over to the couch and rather awkwardly sat down beside Steve.</p><p>“But you’re not him,” said Steve, a little sadly. “It’s no secret that you don’t like me much, Stark. Why would you want to offer me a room in one of your buildings?”</p><p>Tony gave a slight shrug in his Armani suit. “I have this theory that we’re all screwed up in some way and that the best way to sort that out is for us to be in the same place.”</p><p>Steve looked a little puzzled. “Barracks living isn’t really my favourite type of arrangement, and I’m not sure how us being together is going to solve any of my problems.”</p><p>“Well first of all, I may have said room when I actually meant floor, and secondly, this place here is one of your major problems. I know SHIELD think that this is going to acclimatise you slowly to the real world that’s out there, but I don’t see how that’s going to work when you aren’t actually experiencing any of it. I mean what happens when we’re fighting the bad guys and something from this century needs doing, but you don’t know how? Am I going to have to talk you through it like back on the helicarrier? We might not have time for that, we barely did with the engine down.”</p><p>Steve frowned. “I’ve got a lot to catch up on,” he indicated the newspapers on the table with a flick of his fingers. “And I don’t feel ready to face your technological paradise yet. To me this is all Science Fiction. On top of that, I’ve lost the woman that I loved and all my friends. Pretty much everyone that I have ever known is dead, Stark. Including your father, who I respected greatly.” He took a deep breath. “Tell me how moving into the Tower is going to help with any of that.”</p><p>Tony fixed Steve with a knowing look. “Honestly, I don’t know, but maybe you’ll make some new friends. I know I’m not my father. God damn it, wasn’t I reminded of that a lot when I was growing up, but I am a Stark and that has to count for something, right?”</p><p>Steve didn’t answer, he just looked at his hands, so Tony took that as leave to continue.</p><p>“Banner’s in and I bet he doesn’t have many friends left either. What with becoming a giant green monster with an apparently severely limited vocabulary and poor social skills. That’s bound to put a crimp on your Facebook friend count. I bet there was an en mass defriending of Doctor Banner the first day the Other Guy came out to play, so I’m pretty sure you’re not going to be the only one with a thin address book. Plus, me, of course. It’s written in my file, you know, officially, that I have no friends and don’t play well with others.”</p><p>Steve had let Tony work his way through this diatribe, some of which he probably didn’t even understand. He paused a moment and then spoke, just as Tony thought he’d have to fill the conversational void again.</p><p>“I need to think about it. I can’t tell you today and I’m not sure when I’ll be ready, if I ever am.”</p><p>It wasn’t the answer that Tony had been hoping for, but he supposed it would do for now. He nodded in a pretence of understanding, because really he’d never get why Rogers would want to live in this place, but he would give the man the room he needed for now.</p><p>“Okay, just give me a call when you change your mind,” he said and pulled out one of his special business cards that had his personal cell phone number on them. He dropped it on the table and headed for the door, letting himself back into the drab hallway. He was actually very unsure how the encounter had gone, it seemed that Captain America was harder to read than he’d first thought.</p><p>Two days later he still hadn’t had a call from Steve, and in fact never did get one, because JARVIS informed him that Captain Rogers was asking for him at the reception desk of the newly re-christened Avengers Tower. Steve moved his stuff in the same day, even though Tony explained that his apartment wouldn’t be ready for another month. The super soldier just said he’d be fine in one of the many spare rooms that Tony had to offer instead.</p><p>Then Tony sat him down with Pepper and the plans for his new apartment, and the two of them went through what Steve would like, because Tony was determined that the heroes who saved Earth should have their dream pad in his Tower. It didn’t surprise him that Steve wanted very little, he had seen the small kit bag that he’d arrived with and the apartment it came from. So he decided that he would create the accommodation that Steve had asked for and then he added a few extra touches that he was pretty sure Steve would love.</p><p>***</p><p>Bruce was more sensible than Tony. He knew that persuading Steve would be the easy task. The hard ones would be Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff. Tony seemed to think that he might have a better chance of persuading the two assassins and given how well Tony and Natasha got on normally, he had to agree.</p><p>To make matters even more clear cut, he’d been invited back to the helicarrier to look at a project that Professor Selvig was working on to do with what they’d learnt from the tesseract. This would be the perfect opportunity to hunt down Natasha and have a word with her about their plans for Avengers Tower.</p><p>He got his opportunity during his first lunch break when he saw Natasha eating her lunch too, sat tucked in a corner of helicarrier’s mess hall. He collected his own tray of food and then headed for her table.</p><p>“Agent Romanoff, do you mind if I join you?” he gave her a tentative, but hopeful smile.</p><p>If she was at all surprised to see him then she didn’t show it and inclined her head to indicate the seat opposite her. “Doctor Banner, what brings you back so soon?”</p><p>Banner sat and placed his tray on the table with a small amount of apprehension. “Oh you know, gamma radiation, the tesseract, all that sort of stuff. Doctor Selvig remembers a few things from his time under Loki’s control and he’s come up with a new project to channel something similar to tesseract energy… Sorry, you don’t really want all the details.”</p><p>“Actually, this is probably the most interesting conversation that I’m likely to get around here,” she speared a particularly unfortunate green bean with her fork menacingly. Bruce had never realised that it might be possible to eat vegetables with prejudice. She didn’t elaborate further on what was clearly a reference to something that might be causing her bad mood.</p><p>“Uh, so how have you been? Since, you know, saving the planet and, uh, shawarma,” said Bruce.</p><p>“Fine,” replied Natasha. The single word was so devoid of any nuance of emotion that Bruce really had nothing to help him with whether things had been fine or not. Her body language was still somewhat annoyed though and he didn’t think that it was at him.</p><p>“What are you doing at the moment? If you can tell me that is.” Bruce poked at his own meal before meeting Natasha’s eyes.</p><p>Bruce realised that he’d hit a nerve, or perhaps even thee nerve, as she answered with a derogatory tone. “I’m training new recruits. They’re greener than grass and dumber than a bag of hammers. This group is going to take a while to whip into shape and it’s all on me.”</p><p>Bruce frowned. “I’m surprised. I thought that SHIELD would have you out saving the world again.”</p><p>“Yes, you might think that,” she said cryptically.</p><p>“So why don’t they?” asked Bruce, realising that perhaps this was the worst question he could ask the moment it left his mouth.</p><p>Natasha didn’t take his head off though, she sighed and shrugged. “Two reasons. One, I passed my psych eval, and two, Clint didn’t.”</p><p>Bruce frowned. “I don’t understand.”</p><p>Natasha rolled her eyes and resumed eating her lunch. “Doctor, I’m good enough at this game that passing a psych eval is child’s play for me, whether I should pass or not. The problem is that on this occasion they really, really think that I shouldn’t have passed. I was almost killed by the Hulk, my own partner, Loki, and the Chitauri. So now they want me to take some down time before I’m sent back on active missions in case something takes a while to surface. That is my fault, I should have given them some small neurosis to point at and play with.”</p><p>“Okay, that makes sense, I guess, sort of, but I don’t understand how Clint failing his psych evaluation affects you,” said Bruce. “You don’t always go on missions together, do you?”</p><p>“No, we’re not always partnered,” said Natasha. “But they’re concerned about him and whether Loki’s control really is broken. I am probably the only person on this thing that could take him down if he did go rogue again, and they know that I’d do anything to make sure he doesn’t leave the helicarrier, because the last thing I want for him is to have more deaths on his conscience.”</p><p>Bruce frowned. “The influence of the Tesseract is gone. It doesn’t seem likely that he’d have a relapse without Loki using the spear on him again.”</p><p>Natasha nodded. “I know that, but Clint himself is less certain and he’s tying himself up in knots over it. Since he isn’t even defending himself it’s making it hard for those of us who <em>are</em> to make our voices heard.”</p><p>She paused, clearly trying to decide whether she should tell Bruce something more. She looked down at her food, studying the remains of her meal. Bruce just gave her time to sort whatever it was out. She finally looked up at him.</p><p>“He asked me to end him if his eyes turn blue again.”</p><p>Bruce took a sharp intake of breath. “I didn’t realise…” he couldn’t finish the sentence because he wasn’t actually sure what he had been going to say.</p><p>He knew that this experience must have hurt Clint deeply, but he didn’t know the archer well. He had only met him briefly before the battle and then at their impromptu shawarma outing afterwards, by which point everyone was tired and quiet. He had very little to go on for what was normal for Clint.</p><p>“He doesn’t want to hurt anymore people,” said Natasha, simply. “If I was in his place I might well have asked the same of him.”</p><p>Bruce shook his head. “SHIELD haven’t locked him up again, have they?”</p><p>Natasha shook her head too, quickly. “No, they wouldn’t do that to him. To be honest they don’t have to. He’s in no state to hurt anyone except himself.”</p><p>She leant back in her chair, and fixed Bruce with a dark look. “He hasn’t been sleeping properly, for days. I sedated him myself this morning after he pretty much broke down on the firing range, and he’s currently sleeping under heavy sedation in the medical section. I was the only one he’d let anywhere near him and it pretty much killed me to stick a needle in his arm.”</p><p>Bruce’s appetite had disappeared rapidly as Natasha spoke.</p><p>“You did the right thing. I knew things were bad, I didn’t realise how bad…”</p><p>Natasha’s face was almost unreadable, but her eyes flashed repressed anger for just a second. It wasn’t at him, he understood that, but at what she had been forced to do for Clint that morning. What the situation had reduced her to doing to someone who trusted her. She looked away.</p><p>“Tony sent you, didn’t he?” said Natasha, phrasing the statement as a question, before returning to poking at her food.</p><p>“Well, I wouldn’t say sent, but he did want me to ask you something. He’s come to the conclusion that we’re all broken in one way or another. Some of us more than others. I actually think he might have something there. He thinks we should all move into Stark Tower and try to help one another through it. Captain Rogers has been having a few issues too apparently and you know about me…” Bruce hoped Natasha wouldn’t probe too deeply, but he needed her to understand that it wasn’t just her and Barton alone who were facing demons.</p><p>“And Stark? Or did he just find the flight with the nuclear missile exhilarating?”</p><p>“Tony, is, well, Tony. He’s struggling too, but he’d never admit it,” said Bruce.</p><p>Natasha gave an unladylike snort of laughter. “His arc reactor was poisoning him for months and he didn’t say a word to anyone. It took Fury to work it out, and then he got him pointed in the right direction and Iron Man was back, just like that. Pepper nearly killed him when she found out.”</p><p>Bruce sighed. That did sound like something Tony would be stupid enough to do. Natasha’s good humour had faded rapidly though. “Maybe now isn’t the best time to talk about the two of you moving to the Tower. Perhaps Clint just needs some more time to readjust…” Bruce started.</p><p>“I don’t know. The helicarrier probably has some bad memories. He might heal faster somewhere else, but I’m not sure that place is anywhere near Tony Stark,” said Natasha.</p><p>“Well, think about it. Tony’s not that bad to live with, once you learn to ignore him, and I’ve survived a fortnight without killing him or hulking out,” replied Bruce with the beginnings of a smile on his lips. “He’s also got apartments planned out for all of us, so it’s not like we’d be on top of each other.”</p><p>“I’ll think about it,” said Natasha, “and I’ll let Clint know the option is available. Although SHIELD might want him to stay here a bit longer, at least until he’s sleeping better.”</p><p>Bruce nodded miserably. “Do you think he’d be likely to wake up any time in the next twenty-four hours? I’d like to see him before I head back to the Tower.”</p><p>“You’ll have to ask the doctors. They said something about chronic insomniacs needing to realign their sleep patterns, so he was going to be under until tomorrow morning.”</p><p>Bruce nodded. He was at least familiar with the theory of treating chronic insomnia, although Barton seemed to be taking it to extremes. “I’ll drop by and ask them.”</p><p>Natasha nodded in reply and Bruce realised that she had obviously been eating while she talked without him really noticing, because she was nearly done. She finished off the last morsels and began to methodically stack her tray.</p><p>“Thank Tony for his offer and tell him Clint will think about it when he’s better. I’m not the type for communal living. I prefer being broken on my own.”</p><p>Bruce hadn’t quite expected such a blunt statement, but he nodded. “I understand, Agent Romanoff. I’ll let him know.”</p><p>“If you want to stay on the helicarrier until Clint wakes up, I can clear it with Fury and let medical know that you’ll be stopping by.” Natasha got to her feet.</p><p>Bruce raised an eyebrow. “Uh, well they could still use me in the labs here, so yes, that would be good.”</p><p>She gave him a sharp inclination of her head and picked up her tray. “I’ll make the arrangements. He has a habit of trying to leave medical as soon as he can actually walk out under his own power, so I normally try to be there well before he’s likely to wake up. I’ve got a class to attend to this time though, so honestly, you’ll be doing me a favour.”</p><p>With that she left Bruce to his lunch, knowing that he’d already failed on at least one part of his mission. Natasha Romanoff was going to be a tough nut to crack.</p><p>***</p><p>Clint awoke in medical. He expected to be restrained again, but he wasn’t. He felt groggy and like he’d slept for too long. His head refused to clear and he was having trouble working out why he was here. He was wearing SHIELD medical’s standard issue pyjamas under the crisply white sheets, so he’d been here a while. There was an IV in the back of his hand but he didn’t seem to be injured…</p><p>It took him three long blinks for it all to come flooding back to him, and he couldn’t help but groan. He’d been so tired, but somehow sleep wouldn’t come because the cold blue of Loki’s mind control was waiting for him there. Just being on the helicarrier reminded him on a daily basis of his actions, but he refused to let Loki win. He’d heard of exposure therapy and this was his own version of it. Although it was actually becoming a form of self torture. Maybe he deserved it.</p><p>He didn’t remember clearly all of his time under Loki’s control, and it had begun to irritate him to the point that he had to know. The broad brush strokes were there pretty plainly but some parts were just glimpses, fragmented and transitory. If he concentrated hard then he could pull out exact moments, but it was like pulling teeth. It was painful, sometimes literally. His head ached, pain lancing through his mind if he touched the wrong memory. This ensured that parts of what he had done were simply irretrievable, and he wanted those parts back. He had to know what he’d done.</p><p>The lack of sleep and the pushing himself to remember had combined badly. He just couldn’t stop thinking about Loki, about what he’d been trying to do and how, about the people he’d killed unjustly, about the battle and the Chitauri. He found himself checking the shadows for Chitauri, then for Loki, and neglecting himself. Natasha had been dragging him to the mess hall when she was around, but otherwise he had a habit of forgetting to eat. He tried to maintain his normal schedule, but it wasn’t working. The only time he felt any peace was with his bow in his hands, down on the firing range.</p><p>This time it just hadn’t happened. He’d started shaking and he couldn’t draw his bow. His eyesight was blurring and he could hardly see the target. He was just too tired. He’d chased everyone out of the firing range, seeing Chitauri in every corner. He could practically hear Loki laughing at him as he succumbed to his own inner demons, shouting at things that apparently weren’t there.</p><p>At some point Natasha arrived and he was very glad to see her, but he just couldn’t stop his brain telling him that he was in a bad situation and he had to get out of it. His heart was racing and he was in full fight or flight mode. Even Natasha approached him with caution, so he knew he was acting out of character. He didn’t even see the needle that she stuck him with, he was so far off his game, but he did feel it. He heard Natasha’s apology, spoken in Russian because she really meant it, and then he was falling. The lack of bruises meant that Natasha had caught him. His head was aching though, but it had been aching for a while.</p><p>He looked around the room and was a little surprised when he saw someone sitting at his bedside. Someone that wasn’t Natasha. He couldn’t help but stare. Doctor Bruce Banner sat reading a journal entitled “Radiation Physics Series A”, making notes in the margin with a pencil as he went. He pushed his glasses up on his nose and was about to continue when he looked up and met Clint’s eyes.</p><p>“Uh, hi, Agent Barton.” Bruce closed the journal that he was reading, shutting the pencil inside.</p><p>“Doctor Banner,” breathed Clint. He frowned. His voice sounded sleepy, even though he’d just woken up. “What are you doing here?”</p><p>“Well, Professor Selvig wanted my help with a project that he’s working on, so SHIELD asked me to come to the helicarrier.”</p><p>“No, what are you doing here, in my room?”</p><p>“Oh, filling in for Agent Romanoff. She had a class to take and wanted someone to be here when you woke up. And I wanted to talk to you anyway.” Bruce took his glasses off, folded them and put them in his top pocket.</p><p>Clint sighed. “This may not be the best time.” He looked up at his IV, wondering what was in the bag of clear liquid that dripped into his vein.</p><p>“Actually I think this might be a very good time. Agent Romanoff told me that you’re not sleeping and what happened to put you here. I think it’s pretty clear that you need some help.”</p><p>“I’m talking to the shrinks,” said Barton.</p><p>“Good, that’s a start, but we both know that it isn’t enough. Having someone else take over your head isn’t something that you just shrug off. Your doctor was also kind enough to extend medical confidentiality to me regarding some brain scans that he took. He was hoping that I might have an insight because of my work on the tesseract. I couldn’t help much, but Agent Romanoff told him something that got me thinking. You may not remember, but apparently when she sedated you, you kept saying that your head hurt. Have you been having headaches? A lot, I mean?”</p><p>Barton frowned, a little surprised by the question. He hadn’t told the doctors about the constant headaches. “Yeah, how did you know?”</p><p>“The brain scan seemed to show that certain areas of your memory aren’t talking to others in the way they should be. If you’ve been trying to access them, I’m not surprised that you’ve been experiencing pain. I’ve had an interest in trying to retrieve suppressed memories for a while now, for, uh, obvious reasons.” Bruce looked down at his hands.</p><p>He understood Bruce’s reluctance to discuss his alter ego, he felt the same way when he talked about what he’d done whilst Loki had control of his head.</p><p>“You’d like to know what the Other Guy does,” said Barton.</p><p> Bruce nodded. “It’s a side line, but if I can’t cure myself then perhaps I can control the Hulk. Better at least. I’d be willing to look into your headaches too.”</p><p>“Thanks, Doc, but I don’t think not knowing is my problem. It’s part of it, sure, but it’s not what stops me sleeping on a daily basis. It’s mostly the stuff that I know I did,” said Barton, with resignation.</p><p>“Agent Barton, you’re living inside the scene of a crime that you were forced to commit against your will. Why are you still here?”</p><p>“It’s my home. Sort of.”</p><p>Bruce shook his head. “No, you could have a room in any SHIELD base you choose. Why did you decide to come back to this one?”</p><p>“The New Mexico base is a crater. That was where I was stationed last. I’ve always stayed here in-between assignments, and Natasha was here. I thought having a friend here might help.” He rolled his head back to the centre of the pillow and looked up at the ceiling. “All it actually meant was that she was here to stick a needle in my arm when I finally had my melt down.” Clint was glad that Bruce didn’t point out that it was a good thing that she was, however he did point out a few other things.</p><p>“You’ve been abusing both your mind and your body. Honestly, you’re lucky to be alive. People suffering from PTSD have an increased risk of suicide amongst other things. So, yes, having a friend around was a good idea, seeing the psychiatrists was a good idea, but I don’t think you’ve actually been listening to what either of them have said. You’re too busy beating yourself up for what you were forced to do,” said Bruce, and he sounded totally serious and a little displeased.</p><p>“Really? And what would you know? Have you ever had someone scoop your brains out and put their own agenda inside your head?” He was angry and didn’t really think before he spoke but, as soon as the words left his mouth, he realised the stupidity of them. He was talking to Doctor Bruce Banner, a man who became the Hulk when he got angry.</p><p>“Yes, quite frequently,” replied Banner, placidly.</p><p>“Sorry,” said Clint. “I keep forgetting.”</p><p>Bruce just smiled. “Some things are good to forget, others we just wish we could. Some things we desperately want to remember, but we can’t.”</p><p>Clint wasn’t sure what to say, so he didn’t say anything. He was finding it strangely easy to talk to Bruce about things that he’d barely even told Natasha. Bruce waited a few moments to see if he would respond, maintaining eye contact, but when he didn’t, he continued.</p><p>“Look, Tony has an idea. He wants us all to move into Stark Tower. I think it might help you.” Bruce watched him closely for his reaction.</p><p>“I’m not sure how living with Tony Stark is going to help me get over Loki fucking with my head,” said Clint, frankly. He really wasn’t sure why Bruce thought that this might actually be a good idea.</p><p>“Well, firstly, because it would get you out of here. Secondly, Tony has this theory that we can all be broken together and maybe help each other. You know that we’ve got common ground, that has to be worth something. And thirdly, Tony genuinely wants to help you, and this is a man who your partner described as “text book narcissistic”. He really thinks that the Avengers Initiative is worth saving.”</p><p>Clint frowned. “Why does it need saving?”</p><p>“I’m not sure that I can really explain that without breaking the confidences of all involved. Tony may not care about hacking confidential files to get what he needs, but I take confidentiality very seriously.” Bruce paused. “I’ve asked your doctor if he’ll allow me to take over your primary care for a while and he agreed if you give your permission. Full disclosure, I have a medical degree and I put it to good use while I was in India, but I skipped the clinical training and stuck to research. I moved into Radiology and then got caught up in Gamma radiation studies. I’m a Doctor because I have a doctorate in Physics. It’s not a done deal, you can always say “no” and I’ll back off, but I think I can help you. More, probably, than they can here.”</p><p>Clint raised an eyebrow, but he had to admit that nothing else was really working at the moment. “Doc, I’m pretty much out of options. What did you have in mind?”</p><p>“Why don’t you come back to Stark Tower with me and then we can work out the details? If you don’t like it then SHIELD always has a bunk for you back here.”</p><p>Clint considered himself to be pretty good at reading people, although admittedly he was tired and he was desperate for anyone to finally put his fears about Loki to bed. Bruce seemed to be genuine, in both his offer of help and his sincerity that he should move into Stark Tower. At this point he had so little to lose that he might as well try it out and see if it helped. He was pretty sure that things couldn’t get much worse at the moment.</p><p>“Someone should give you a job selling something, Doctor Banner,” said Clint. “You’d be damn good at it. Let me know when you’re leaving and I’ll be waiting in the hangar for you, assuming that I’m allowed out of here. But I guess that’s your call, if you’re my doctor.”</p><p>Bruce smiled. “If we’re going to be living in the same building then you should probably start calling me Bruce.”</p><p>“Clint, I’m Clint,” replied the Archer.</p><p>Bruce nodded. “As you’re being released into my care, they’re happy to let you go as soon as you’re feeling okay. You were dehydrated and your electrolytes were all over the place, so that’s what the IV is for and it can come out any time. I wouldn’t be surprised if you felt a little dizzy and nauseous the first time you try to stand though.”</p><p>Clint only half listened to what Bruce said after “happy to let you go”, so he was caught by surprise when the room reeled around him as he pushed himself into a sitting position. Bruce was on his feet and had an arm out to catch him before he ended up on the floor.</p><p>“Okay,” said Clint. “I promise that is the last time I ignore what you have to say.”</p><p>It was Bruce’s turn to raise his eyebrows. “I think I’ll believe that when I see it. Meet me at the hangar in two hours, unless you want me to help you collect your things?”</p><p>Clint shook his head. “Nah, I’ll be fine.” He really didn’t have much here anyway. The few belongings that he had carried around with him were now buried at the bottom of a crater in New Mexico, along with his self-respect and ability to sleep properly at night.</p><p>Bruce left him to get dressed. And after that a nurse came in to remove the IV line and give him his clothes back. He went into the bathroom to change and one look in the mirror told him that he’d made the right decision. He looked pretty bad, pale and sickly looking. He decided that he’d better pull himself together enough to go talk to Natasha before he left for New York. She’d be pissed at him if he left without saying goodbye.</p>
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